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express such ideas as these , if these were indeed the ideas intended to be conveyed , is a question , " says he , " which can hardly be answered , on any pr inciple consistent with the inspiration , or even the common sense of the writers . "
Here we have occasion again to complain ( in behalf , not of our own system , but of the reverence and honour due to Holy Scripture ) of the \ erv rash and unseemly manner in which men are wont to express the
consequence of the rejection of their own interpretations . What ! must holy men he charged with singular foJJy and a total want of common sense , unless they can be shewn to the satisfaction of every polemic to have meant precisely what he thinks
they ought to have meant ! If there be any foundation for what we have said respecting the natural and necessary habits , feelings and sentiments of the Christian apostles , it
will appear that the simplicity of the doctrine they had to teach was precisely their difficulty ; and that they were permitted to represent it in such a manner as might conciliate , but
ought not to have misled mankind ; and that so far the Almighty was pleased to provide against an objection which was sure to be taken up against Christianity , on account of that very circumstance which was , in fact , the surest proof of its divine origin , its simplicity !
But who can justly demand it of God , that he should have wrought a stupendous and perpetual miracle upon the minds of those whom he chose to the office of providing the written records of the New Testament , for the confirmation of the faith of
Christendom , and have compelled them to reject the expressions and images which had a peculiar beauty , ; c f aud propriety , when addressed to the Christians of that day , merely that men in all subsequent ages might have no chance of mistaking them ? Must 1 a' 11 wow away his fervent , eloquent and glowin g style , and write as if he were pennin g an act of parliament , or savoT r nCeof an <* tate , merely to , save posterit y the trouble of thoug h **/ criticis m and reflection ? L are MOt to expect that we 8 houM able t 0 understand scripture , with-
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out ' ma king due allowance for the situation and circumstances of the writers . Happily , indeed , the New Testament was , for the most part , written by plain men , whose humble rank , and want of learning * preserved
them from the obscurity which arises from the affectation of science , and qualified them for writing works which were intended for the use of all mankind . But that they should be perfectly free from modes of expression peculiar to one country , and derived from the circumstances of their own
times , was not to be expected ; and if practicable , would probably have been productive of no real benefit ; since it would have deprived their works of those features which furnish a power * ful argujnent for their genuineness . We should soon find ourselves involved
in the most palpable errors , if we always adopted that which appeared the most obvious and natural interpretation of every passage . The most natural interpretation of the words of Christ , " This is my body , " is that which the Roman Catholic gives to them ; but we are not for that reason bound to subscribe to the absurd
doctrine , of Transubstantiation . We must make use of common sense , and consider the general strain and purport , of scripture , or we shall make both heresy and nonsense of various parts of it . It is an obvious rule in perusing any work , to interpret that which is obscure consistently with that which
is plain , and where language is used which is evidently figurative , that is , borrowed from some other subject , and applied by way of illustration or ornament , to allow a greater latitude of interpretation than where the terms are simple and strictly appropriate to the subject in hand .
To enter upon a particular examination of the texts connected with this subject , would be inconsistent with the limits of this essay . One general observation may be made , which , if properly pursued , will be found to amount to full proof of the figurative intention of all such passages of the
New Testament . That these writers did not intend to represent Christ as a sacrifice in the most literal sense , appears from this ; that they have applied the same lan ^ guage to a variety of other subjects ,
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An Essay on the Nmture and Design of Sacrifices under the Mosaic Law . 46 &
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Aug. 2, 1823, page 463, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1787/page/31/
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